Processes - EPIC IT Automations

7 Reasons to Invest in Your Employees Learning Automation

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Epic IT Automations

In today’s increasingly competitive market, businesses should be looking at ways to keep employees engaged as well as maximize profit. One way of achieving both these goals is by investing in your employees learning automation. Not only does it upskill your staff but introducing automated processes makes the business more efficient, saves money, and increases profits. It’s a win-win!

According to a recent McKinsey report, “over the next ten to 15 years, the adoption of automation and AI technologies will transform the workplace…”. They also say that “these technologies will bring numerous benefits in the form of higher productivity, GDP growth, improved corporate performance and new prosperity…”. And finally, “to harness the new technologies to their full effect, companies will need to retool their corporate structures and their approaches to work. That change will require redesigned business processes and a new focus on the talent they have – and the talent they need…”.

So here are our top seven reasons why you should invest in your employees learning automation:

1. You don’t need a highly skilled IT team for automation

The first reason to invest in your employees learning automation is that it will save money as you won’t need to hire an expensive development team. Modern digital tools like Zapier are no-code applications that don’t require highly-skilled programmers to deliver streamlined, integrated systems. The employees who are doing the day-to-day tasks are the ones who are best placed to automate them. They will know better than anyone where efficiencies can be made, which systems are being used, and how to optimize their processes.

2. Increased productivity

If you invest in your employees learning automation then they will achieve higher productivity. Removing manual effort means they have more time to focus on being creative and supporting your business goals. This has many benefits, from lower costs and happier customers to increased profits.

3. Better data

If employees are fluent in automation then they will be able to spot opportunities for tracking data, and it won’t take any extra time to capture it once it has been set up. With Zapier it’s easy to configure triggers to count activities, sales, visitors, transactions, expenses, just about anything! Once you have the data then you can also use Zapier to help with analysis by triggering information to be sent to spreadsheets and databases, or even retrieving data from Google Analytics. Reports can be delivered seamlessly to the right people and monitored on an ongoing basis.

4. Scale your business

If employees are bogged down with manual tasks then it’s hard to scale without increasing the size of the team. Recruiting extra people is expensive and is not a great long-term strategy for growing a business unless the tasks can only be done by a human. A better idea is to invest in automation training, then systematize repetitive manual tasks so that staff can concentrate on business growth.

5. Improve efficiency

If your employees are confident automating processes then it makes everything run more smoothly, more efficiently. If you have invested in automation training then it will open their minds about new opportunities for streamlining the business. Things like work allocation, approvals, reviews, managing project tasks and marketing activities are just some of the day-to-day tasks which could benefit from automation. Zapier is so flexible and connects over 6,000 apps which are used in businesses every day, so the chances are there are many of the systems in your own business included. Automation will help you compete in a global marketplace and will help achieve an improvement in overall corporate performance.

6. Better culture

Investing in any training has the benefit of improving your overall business culture. Having an ongoing learning program improves overall employee performance and job satisfaction as well as making staff more competent and confident.

Continuous training increases loyalty too as people can see that you’re investing in them, and also improves agility. Having a multiskilled, agile team will create a more flexible workforce.

7. Improve communication

Investing in your employees learning automation improves communication, both internal and external. Tools like Zapier integrate with many email, messaging, and other communication platforms that it is simple to automate notifications to anybody.

Internal apps such as Slack can be used to notify members of staff when key business milestones have been reached, when sales are made when a customer has contacted you – almost anything you can think of. If employees are aware of the power of Zapier then they will think of new ways of keeping everyone in the loop. External marketing activities can be automated, you can create a sales cadence for new business prospects, you can thank customers for paying invoices, and manage calendars and appointment setting.

If you are ready to introduce automation to your employees and daily business processes but don’t know where to start or what technology is best, give us a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants. We’re happy to get you on the right track!

Source: Solvaa

Not sure when to automate a task? Start here.

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Epic IT Automations

Chances are you’ve automated something without even realizing it.

Do you get an automatic email before calendar events start? That’s automation. Do you get a text alert when it’s almost time to renew a prescription or to remind you about an upcoming appointment? Automation again!

But if you aren’t used to building automated workflows on your own, it can be daunting to think about how you might use automation to save time for yourself, either for your personal life or your business processes. How do you decide what to automate? What can you do better by not doing it yourself? Where do you even start?

We asked Zapier superusers and employees about how they know when to automate a task. Here’s what they had to say:

What is task automation?

Before we tell you when you should automate a task, it might be helpful to explain exactly what we mean when we talk about task automation. Task automation (also called workflow automation) is the act of streamlining and automating a series of tasks within the apps you use.

Automation boils down to a simple command: WHEN and DO. “When this happens, do that.” With a task automation tool like Zapier, even the most complex automation can be broken down into this simple command.

For example, if you want to automate some of your lead management tasks, you might set up a Zap—Zapier’s automated workflows—that follows this command: When you get a new email from a lead, then notify my sales team via a text. That’s task automation!

It’s a task you have to do frequently or on a schedule

When you’re trying to decide which aspects of your work you should automate, a great first question to ask is: What tasks do you perform the most frequently?

Tasks that need to be done often or on a set schedule are perfect for automation because the benefits are immediate. You’ll spend less time every day on repetitive tasks, which can quickly become burdensome or annoying.

“If it’s something I have to do three times, the odds are that I’ll have to do it a fourth and a fifth,” says Kristie Wirth, who works at Zapier as a data scientist. “When I’m tempted to add something as a recurring task in my to-do app, I know it’s probably a good fit for automation. Even if it’s just an annual thing, I’ll still take a stab at automating it.”

Similarly, front-end engineer Caleb Peterson says that he tries to identify the parts of his daily work that are repetitive but also frustrating to do manually.

“I’ll look at automating a task when it’s a part of my daily workflow that’s repetitive or obnoxious,” he says. “A great example is digging the meeting link or location out of my Google Calendar. I’ve got a Zap that drops the location of Google Calendar events into Slack, so I can just grab it right there—instead of having to hunt for it for every meeting I have in a day.”

It involves moving information between apps

Let’s be honest: copy-and-pasting is time-consuming and dreadfully dull. So are other manual ways of moving data, like exporting CSV files from one app and then importing them into another. And if you have to repeat the process multiple times over the course of a day or week, it quickly becomes unmanageable.

“When I’m deciding whether a task is a good fit for automation, I ask: Does it use software/SaaS products from start to finish?” explains Bryan Golkhajeh, a Zapier expert with Workload.

Tasks that involve moving data between apps are perfect for automation. For example, you can create new leads in your CRM whenever someone fills out a form on your website or subscribes to an email marketing campaign.

It’s boring and doesn’t require higher-order thinking

Another key thing to consider is whether a task truly needs a distinctly human touch. Does it require creativity, problem-solving skills, or emotional intelligence? If so, you might not want to automate it. But if it’s a boring, simple task that doesn’t require complex thinking, it could be easily handled by an automation tool like Zapier.

Andrew Davison, a Zapier expert at Luhhu, suggests identifying the tasks that you wish you didn’t have to do.

“Simply put, I ask:

Is this a task I do more than once per month?
Does it involve the same steps every time?
Do I wish I could be doing anything but this?”

It takes you away from what you really want to be doing

And that, ultimately, is the answer for most people: They automate tasks that keep them away from what they wish they would be doing.

Sometimes, those tradeoffs are business-critical functions.

“I consider how much time a task is taking away from core business functions, such as sales or talking to customers,” Golkhajeh says. “If the answer is more than 15 to 20 minutes a day, and it’s a rules-based process that uses software from start to finish, I’m already thinking of automating the heck out of it.”

He explains that, for him, automation isn’t just about saving a few minutes here and there. It’s about how that time adds up over the long term.

“All those little time blocks add up over the course of a year,” he says. “Just do that math: 15 minutes saved per workday, over 252 average workdays in a year, equals about 3,000 minutes saved. That’s more than 60 hours.”

If you are ready to start adding automation to your daily business processes but don’t know where to start or what technology is best, give us a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants. We’re happy to get you on the right track!

Source: Zapier

7 ways to automate spreadsheets

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Epic IT Automations

Spreadsheets are way more versatile than we like to think they are. They can be used to store data, of course, but also used as to-do lists, a browser homepage, and even for games. They’re also a great way to more efficiently analyze data or share information across teams, especially if not everyone has access to the same apps.

Spreadsheets can be central hubs of information connecting your business-critical apps. But manually moving information from app to spreadsheet to app doesn’t allow you to scale your processes and increase the impact of your team and company’s work.

With Zaps—our word for Zapier’s automated, no-code workflows—your spreadsheets can do a lot more than help you keep track of data. They can update themselves, send information to your team or customers, and help you scale your workflows.

Add leads to a spreadsheet

While you likely use a CRM to collect lead information, not everyone in your department or your company may have access to the apps you use every day—seats may be limited, too expensive to share widely, or include sensitive customer data you don’t want to share with everyone.

Large amounts of lead data can also be difficult to parse in a CRM, especially if you’re collecting info from multiple sources. You might also send lead data to other tools for more in-depth analysis. Spreadsheets can make it easier to analyze and share data across teams, helping you improve the performance of your lead campaigns.

Create tasks from your spreadsheet

Whether it’s keeping yourself on track or organizing your team for the week, to-do lists are an essential part of getting things done. Using these Zaps, you can take advantage of the organizational power of spreadsheets, and turn rows into tasks in apps like Trello, Asana, and Notion. Easily create cross-functional tasks for team members across your company or keep your day organized without the extra effort.

Keep your spreadsheets in sync

Do you love Google Sheets, but Marsha in Accounting insists on using Excel? End the spreadsheet debate once and for all by linking everything together with these Zaps.

You can also use Zapier to send information from one sheet to another, if you keep one sheet for personal or team use and then need to send specific information to a shared sheet for wider use.

Add form responses to a spreadsheet

When you’re collecting customer feedback, selling a product, or just trying to get everyone’s lunch orders, using a form is a great way to make sure everyone gives you the information you need. But collecting information is usually just the first step.

By connecting your form app to a spreadsheet, you can automatically create a backup of your form responses so your important data is never lost, easily share your form data with other teams or apps, and more. Use the following Zaps to send form responses to a spreadsheet automatically, so it can be sorted, organized, and acted on efficiently.

Get notifications from your spreadsheets

One major benefit to collaborative office platforms like OneDrive or Google Suite is that you can collaborate on spreadsheets and documents with your team. If you need to know when changes happen or if it’s important to share updates with others at—or outside—your company, adding custom notifications with Zapier helps you keep an eye on what’s happening without sitting in the file all day.

You might also have one team collect data and others act on it. Sending instant notifications for new or updated info will ensure you’re acting on the latest data—which can often mean the difference between a sale or a churned customer.

These Zaps keep you posted on new and updated rows, so you’re never out of the loop.

Create calendar events from a spreadsheet

If you’re putting on a big event or scheduling shifts for your team, looking at everything in a calendar can get confusing pretty quickly. And if you’re manually adding events one by one, scaling your efforts will be next to impossible.

Using these Zaps, you can add each event’s information to a nice clean spreadsheet, and let Zapier fill out the calendar for you. More easily scale your work by adding events in bulk without the manual effort so you can focus on more important tasks—like planning your event or appointments.

Use webhooks with your spreadsheets

Zapier connects with thousands of apps, but depending on which app or workflow you need to achieve your goals, there might not be a Zapier integration that does exactly what you need. That’s where webhooks come in.

Webhooks allow you to collect data from or push data to an app. With these Zaps, you can use webhooks to send information to or from your spreadsheets.

Easy spreadsheet automation

Spreadsheets are powerful tools that help you organize and analyze information. Add automation to make it easier to collect the data that matters for your business and keep you and your team informed about changes.

Give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants and learn how to Zapier can bring automation to your spreadsheets.

Source: Zapier

The Best Way to Get Started Building Processes

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Epic IT Automations

When you first start with new workflow automation software, it’s important to have a game plan for how you will move forward. The best way to get your feet wet with our software is typically to dive in and start building a workflow.

Let’s take a step back – before we dive any deeper into stepping in the software. Let’s go over a few steps that you will want to take when wanting to get started building processes with Integrify. These tips could be used no matter what process you are working on getting started with – HR, Finance, Marketing; these tips will work for you!

Layout The Steps

Typically, your mind might be on autopilot when sending emails for approvals, forwarding a document for a signature, or sending something back to a colleague. But it’s important to lay out what exactly these steps are. Start with the process you’d like to begin on and grab a piece of paper or something you can lay out your thoughts on and make your own flow. Write down the forms included, approvals needed, PDFs used, etc. Lets say for instance, you want to break down the time off process your company does now. You may know that…

You have to send an initial request to your manager
Your boss approves your time off
HR gets involved to make adjustments to your record
Someone in HR will send you an email with your new time off approval and remaining time off

You’ve started your first step of building out your very first process!

Map Out The Steps

Start mapping out your thoughts above with step-by-step flow ideas of how this current process looks like on paper. This will be beneficial when it comes to building your first workflow. Where are the forms located? What forms would you like to include? What task do you want to come before or after something important? Do you want automation emails to populate and send throughout this process?

Plan Out Rules

When you look at that drawn-out flow, you now have a better understanding of all the steps involved. Do you want to add rules? Of course, you do! In this example, let’s say that your manager needs more information on your time off, for example, you left out the specific end date of your time off. They need more information! You might jot down that you would like to make a rule on step 3 that if they need more information, this rule will send the request off form back to the employee (requester) and have them refill the error on their end. Then after they complete that fix, it will automatically send it back to your manager so they can easily approve and it’ll be on its way to HR.

Have An End Goal In Mind

You always need to have that end goal in mind when laying out these rules, processes, and mappings. Let’s keep using the HR example – what is the end goal? We want it to be as easy as possible for the requester to get their initial form approved and sent to HR. If everything now is just via email, these requests may get lost in management emails and never gets passed along to HR. Our goal is simplicity. Automatic routing allows for documents and forms to be sent without the worry of things getting lost along the way.

You may want to send out automatic emails when you click “approve” or “need more information” this is a goal as well – being able to keep everyone in the loop.

Ready To Automate?

Contact Epic IT Automations and see how we can help you implement and automate business processes.

Zapier: A Tool that Bridges Gaps Between Apps

Posted on May 13, 2023 by Epic IT Automations

As a business owner, it’s important to ensure your applications are communicating. Moving business information automatically through your programs removes human error, boosts productivity, frees up time, streamlines communication, and more! But it can be daunting to think about getting started with automation if you are unfamiliar.

Evaluating your internal processes and systems is the first step in discovering where automation opportunities lie.

Some common reasons to automate workflows include:

Speed up data entry tasks
Connect people, apps, and processes
Gather data at scale to make smarter decisions
Spend less time managing the inbox
Omit manual tasks that are done by humans

There are many tools available to make automation possible, Zapier being one of them. Zapier is a tool that helps automate repetitive tasks between two or more applications. You can get started immediately with premade workflows, or if you are up for it, build something yourself by connecting your apps. With the ability to integrate over 4,000+ different applications, this do-it-yourself editor allows you to create automations without the hiring a developer: integrate apps, automate workflows, and innovate processes.

Automating tasks is a key component to running an efficient business and doesn’t have to be intimidating. Your first automation doesn’t have to be complex; it just has to work so you can focus on things that matter.

Interested in evaluating your processes and learning where automation fits in? Call us at 608-496-8660 or schedule a consultation and we can guide you through, step-by-step.

Why Your Company Needs a Digital Workflow IT Consultant

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Epic IT Automations

For most businesses, having systems in place to keep production on task remains a top priority. Lacking consistent and efficient processing leads to miscommunication, delaying or neglecting essential responsibilities, and missing deadlines. This is where an experienced digital workflow IT consultant can create and implement technology-based solutions designed to streamline operations and generate desired outcomes. Here are several ways these specialists help businesses thrive.

How Can A Digital Workflow IT Consultant Help Your Business?

Help Process Efficiency

IT consultants improve efficiency through establishing operating principle guides or identifying gaps in workflow channels. Eliminating redundant tasks and streamlining procedures will help businesses get the most from their employees. Clearly defining responsibilities keeps digital workflow from experiencing breakdowns, avoiding the stall of production.

Offer Objective Perspectives

In some cases, business owners may be too close to workflow procedures to identify operational issues. This familiarity can affect their judgment on what areas need modification. IT consultants specialize in improving digital systems. They provide objective perspectives aiming to spot critical stopgaps impeding workflow processing. They define measurement needs and recommend unbiased solutions to improve internal operational channels. Having someone on your team who can offer a clear assessment means your business benefits from implementation without pressure or influence.

Establish Open Communication Lines

Communication breakdown between employees can result in costly mistakes and delays. Not being on the same page leads to finger-pointing and low morale. Working with a digital workflow IT consultant eliminates distractions, ambiguous language, and redundancies. This allows communication lines to remain open and accessible. As employees strive toward shared production goals, misunderstandings that can affect customer service follow-ups, product deliveries, and other pressing priorities lessens.

Need Help With Process Efficiencies And Digital Workflows?

Connect with Epic IT Automations today and learn more on how we can help your business streamline your processes and turn those paper processes into a digital workflow. Call us at 608-496-8660 or schedule a consultation to get started.